Choose convenience or Sustainable Products?

I admit that I didn’t know much about Gore-Tex until recently and even what I did know was limited to “it’s bad for the environment.”

After doing a little more research I’ve learned that Gore-Tex is essentially the same material as Teflon®, a perfluorochemical, PFC.

If you don’t know much about Teflon you should know this:

Cooking with Teflon pans can kill birds and it’s chemical compounds have been found even in polar bears in the Arctic.

The never-ending green traveler’s dilemma

If you want to know more about Gore-Tex I’ve listed some additional resources below.

But the key thing is this: the chemicals in Gore-Tex are bad for my personal health and they are bad for the environment.

But, wouldn’t it be nice to have breathable, waterproof shoes?

Concerns with your green values

I want to buy “made in America” products. I really do.

The problem is, I often can’t find them.

Sometimes when I do find them, I can’t really justify affording them.

It is an ongoing situation… especially when my children were younger and were growing out of their clothes quickly.

If I buy second-hand, not-made-in-America, is that better than buying local products new?

We are all doing the best we can, and even by being mindful of our choices we are already ahead of most.

So, I’m stuck with this green traveler’s dilemma:

Will choosing Gore-Tex hiking boots/shoes that will be convenient and practical for me (short term) or do I find something else that will, in the end, be better for my health and the environment (long term)?

Green Travel Gear Products on the Market

With so many new Green Travel Gear products on the market, it’s hard to know what to trust.

Light my Fire Sporks

Everyone in our family has his or her own (in different colors so we can tell them apart) and we bring them on camping trips and backpacking treks, as well as road trips.

We use them in place of plastic, disposable silverware in fast food restaurants, and in hotel rooms for in-room dining.

Bed Buddy Neck Pillow

This neck pillow is great for relieving tension year-round.

Just stick it in the microwave to heat it up and wrap it around your shoulders and neck.

It’s made of natural materials and has lavender and chamomile for aromatherapy.

Any environmentalist is sure to love this relaxing gift.

Nothing Nasty lip balm

This lip balm by Nothing Nasty is made of all natural, organic ingredients is good for the environment and good for your lips.

And it’s easy to add to a holiday stocking!

I love the honey and vanilla flavor.

Nothing Nasty also has a full line of baby and toddler products for your little one’s stocking.

What will you be gifting as green stocking stuffers for environmentalists this holiday season?

Share your stocking stuffer ideas in the comments!

Best Christmas Gifts for Travelers Concerned About Environment Full of Excellent Picks

Best Christmas Gifts for Travelers – Whether you’re a traveler looking for ideas for your Christmas wish list or a shopper in search of holiday gift ideas for your favorite traveler, you’ve come to the right place.

From luggage and clothing to gadgets and water bottles, this list of the best Christmas gifts for travelers is full of excellent picks.

We even have ideas for kids who like to travel.

Read on and get your holiday shopping finished early!

Gift Luggage

Small Travel Backpack

I’m an advocate of packing light and a good backpack can make that easy.

I traveled in Argentina for 6 months with only a small travel backpack and an even smaller school backpack.

Opt for a front-loading backpack because top-loading ones make organization difficult.

Look for a backpack that’s comfortable, compact, attractive, and has lots of pockets.

A mug will come in handy for those quick camping outs and hiking trips, as it gives the traveler a reusable container for water or coffee.

Because it’s stainless steel a traveler can reuse it again and again, eliminating the need for paper or plastic cups.

While these mugs are often used for short trips, they’ll also come in handy for school or office.

With a stainless steel mug, they can pack up more quickly and get going.

Best Gifts for Travelers Water Bottles

There are few things an eco-friendly traveler needs more than a water bottle.

Different types of water bottles are available, but regardless what you buy make sure that it’s BPA free and it’s stainless steel as it will make the bottle last longer.

There’s a lot to be said about stainless steel water bottles, but their biggest benefit is they’re versatile enough to be used at home or on the road.

Since water bottles are so cheap, you can buy several of these.

Nothing beats a nice pair of eco-friendly shoes, and there are plenty of these available today.

Just go online and you’re going to find an array of green footwear made from recycled materials and using environment friendly processes.

Note that some of these shoes are for casual wear, so if you expect your recipient to wear it while traveling, get a pair of heavy duty travel shoes that can withstand rugged terrain.

This isn’t as hard as you might think as green footwear has become more commonplace.

No traveler will be complete without a travel book, it’s a fact.

Yes there are travel apps available, but what if he / she goes somewhere where there is no reliable Internet connection?

With a good travel book, a traveler will never be lost.

A good travel book will provide information about the country as well as photos, so it’s going to be an invaluable aid.

If your friend likes to travel to foreign countries, consider getting him / her a dictionary or a book with commonly used phrases and expressions, and it will also help if you get them an etiquette book, very handy to prevent misunderstandings and culture shock.

Ask any frequent traveler and he / she will tell you that a compost bin is a must-have, so why not give one as a gift?

They’re very practical, portable and eliminate the odor that would otherwise emanate from the thrash.

Many are sold in 1 gallon sizes although other options are available, and if you’re going to buy one, look for those with a charcoal liner as that helps eliminate odors.

A green traveler will appreciate this because it means they don’t have to rely on whatever the hotel is providing them.

And if they’re staying in simple lodgings chances are they’re not going to get any towels at all.

Towels for home use are large, warm and soft but usually not fit for travel, so it is better if you buy one that’s made of microfiber because it dries quickly, can absorb a lot of water and folds tightly and easily.

A molcajete (mortar and pestle) may not seem like a necessity, but if the traveler enjoys cooking then this will be something they’ll appreciate.

If you’re not familiar with it, a molcajete is the Mexican version of the pestle and mortar, and it’s especially useful for grinding and crushing herbs, spices and foods.

For hikers and campers who like to prepare their own food, this will be indispensable.

Anyone who travels frequently will need a backpack, but for eco-friendly travelers the recycled ones are going to be most appreciated.

Don’t let the term recycle mislead you, because these are as comfortable and dependable as any other backpack.

from the green factor, there are a lot of other factors to consider when buying a backpack, such as the size, capacity, and type and so on.

This all depends on what type of traveler your gift recipient is, so take that into consideration.

However, buying won’t be as difficult as it used to be since there are a lot of options available sold today.

Does your friend have a sweet tooth?

Then a gelato maker will be most welcome.

This might not seem to have anything to do with being green, but it does actually: having their own gelato maker means they won’t to deal with the urge to buy candies and consequently, not worry about where to throw away the wrappers.

Is there a better way to capture the beauty of nature than with a digital camera?

There are a lot of gadgets you can buy, but no question, a camera is what the green traveler will appreciate the most as it allows them to capture the most amazing moments of their trips.

Digital cameras are no longer as expensive as they used to be so finding one won’t be too difficult.

It’s true that smartphones and tablets have a built-in camera, but the quality a real camera provides is superior.

If your friend is picky about pictures, then only a “real” camera will do.

So there you have it, the best gifts for travelers, and whether your recipient has been traveling for a long time or just new to it, there’s no question that they will be grateful and will benefit from any of these gifts.

Magniflex GeoEthic Pillow

The Magniflex pillow contains no materials that are toxic or non-biodegradable, but it’s made in Italy so there is an environmental impact from that aspect.

According to Magniflex’s website, the company “strongly believe[s] that environmental safety, both for our employees and customers, and safeguarding the earth’s natural resources must play an integral part in our manufacturing process.”

If you love traditional memory foam but don’t like the negative impact it has on the environment, I would highly recommend checking out these two pillows.

As with all pillows, I think perfection lies in the preference of the sleeper.

I think these pillows are both great and I would recommend testing them out before choosing the one that’s best for you.

Learn what’s in some of your everyday use products, like pillows, your carpeting and your couches and other hidden toxins in homes.

When to replace pillows?

If you have not spent a lot of money on them, this is a fairly easy thing to do.

There are other many factors to consider regarding how frequently you should replace your pillows.

Consider if you have children; how often you change out the pillow case; do you have a zippered pillow cover on it as well as the pillow case; and are there people in your home with allergies.

Also consider if someone has been very sick and using the pillow.

When you buy a more expensive memory foam pillow, keeping it encased with a zippered cover will help you in the long run from wear and tear as well as keeping it cleaner and more hygienic.

Investing in dust mite encasement is also a wise idea and will increase the life of your pillow.

It will also help those people in your home who may have dust mite allergies, as dust mites live and thrive in pillows, mattresses, blankets and bedding.

One word of caution: Do your homework and beware of green washing.

Some memory foam pillow brands claim to be eco-friendly, when in reality their products are made with 10% eco-friendly materials and 90% polyurethane.

You will most likely enjoy having a memory foam pillow, just be sure you know what you are buying, and be sure to take care of it so it stays clean for better health for its user.

Useful Eco Gadgets for the Green Traveler

Eco gadgets for the Green Traveler are most definitely a growth market now.

Sure there are lots of gadgets that are a waste of time and money, but there are also some gadgets that are genuinely useful.

In this article, Dan talks about 10 of his favorite eco-friendly gadgets that are designed with the green traveler in mind.

Wind up Torch

If we’re going camping or anywhere else where there’s likely to be a lack of lighting when night falls, then we need a torch. Conventional torches eat through lots of batteries, so something rechargeable would be great.

Rather than use standard rechargable batteries, why not have a wind up torch?

I have two of these torches myself, and they’re fantastic!

Just a minute or so of winding up and you get around 30 minutes of torch light.

In practice, the light dims after a few minutes, so you just top it up again.

You never need to worry about finding some batteries ever again!

Wind Up Walkie Talkies

On the theme of wind up gadgets, there’s a great way to keep in touch with your party, or kids, or anyone really, and that’s with a walkie talkie.

However, we hit the same issues with batteries, so how about some wind up walkie talkies?

For a minute of winding, you get 2 minutes of talking time and 10 minutes of standby time.

Perfect for emergencies, and you don’t need to worry about mobile phone reception either.

i feel this could be a situation where you offset the bad environmental stuff with some other good environmental stuff. (to talk slangily) Already you are being such a conscientious shopper and traveler that you’ve probably done the work of 20 people. If it would not sit well with your conscious, then you’ll have to make the healthier decision over the more…comfortable option.

i didn’t read over the links yet, but does research show how much of these harmful chemicals effect the planet via creation, before creation, and after creation of a PFC object? how bad are these goretex boots really for your health? come to think of it, i have gore tex boots I’ve had for about 4 years now.

I think you should consider how important having waterproof shoes really is to you. I have a pair of gore-tex boots that I have only ever used in snow. Gore-tex may be more breathable than a plastic bag, but it still makes for a sweaty foot if you’re using it as an everyday shoe.

As a backpacker, hiker and climber, I’ve always opted for a shoe with a lot of airy mesh in it that will dry quickly if it gets wet. It’s no big deal if your feet are wet for a day, after all. Plus, a well-ventilated shoe allows sweat to evaporate more easily, leaving you (paradoxically) with a drier foot most of the time than a stuffy gore-tex lining would allow.

Also, even if you do go with gore-tex, what about all the other nasty stuff that goes into producing a shoe. Maybe the gore-tex is just a drop in the bucket.

I fundamentally disagree with your assertion that Gore-Tex is bad for the environment. While they do make a product out of a material (ptfe) that has been proven to be a persistant organic pollutant (POP), and fluorinated compounds are especially persistant in the environment, so are all of the other materails currently availabe that are waterproof and breathable. Furthermore, most of the waterproof materails available are not good for the environment. Therefore, if you want a waterproof material you must look for a company that tries to limit their environmental harm which W.M. Gore does, and does pretty well if you actually read their statement. (side note Gore-Tex is not related to Dupont, that is fundamentally incorrect) They are attempting to be a enviro-freindly company, so to say they are not just because they produce something that is inherrently not enviromentally friendly is not really fair, especially if you don’t include all waterproof materials in that claim. Finally, there is not a single study backing your claim that by wearing Gore-Tex, it is bad for you health. Unless you are chewing on your shoes, it is again not really fair to describe Gore-Tex as bad for your health. This is the kind of uneducated non-sense that actually hurts the enviromental movement. If you really want to help the environment, educate yourself, and then spend your money with companies that are trying to limit their ecological footprint, even if it isn’t perfect, it will encourage other companies to take the environment seriously because they will see it is worth money. Sad, but true!

A clarification to my first comment, as I realized it was a bit harsh. This website provides some great info about traveling green, and I feel this is a great service to people looking for that info, and to the steps they might take to be environmentally friendly. I just think you got it wrong here by focusing on Gore-Tex. Of all the environmental concerns to consider when buying some shoes, I don’t W.M. Gore, and their product Gore-Tex should be your biggest concern. W.M Gore does try to limit their impact, and that is more than many companies do.

@Chris- I appreciate your comments and correction about DuPont. Ultimately, this comes down to choices and values. I agree with you that companies that try to lower their negative environmental impact should get more business; but I still see chemicals such as the ones used in Gore-tex as worse for the environment and worse for my health.

I am chemically sensitive (asthma). I have a Goretex rain jacket which is 7 or 8 years old. I use it VERY infrequently and for short periods of time, but I always have breathing problems when I wear it. Alternative rain wear doesn’t offer much since perfluorochemicals are used for waterproofing as well. Fortunately I live where the annual rainfall is about 14 inches so I can live with it. My husband says I am the canary in the mine shaft. Chemicals are bad news. S. Smith

Personally I go with either basic breathable shoes, or if I want waterproof, good ol’ leather does the job just fine if you maintain them right. For a rain jacket I find that pretty much any nylon shell works fine. If it’s REALLY bad a cheap plastic poncho helps. Goretex is a premium fabric that just isn’t justified in my book.

In either case, WOOL socks do a great job at keeping my feet warm and drier. I agree with mickey above about just wearing breathable shoes. Unless you’re literally in a mud pit area, in which case leather boots are a better option in my book. I live in the Seattle area, so I know alllllll about rain and mud when you’re out and about. 🙂

While PTFE has a bad ecological footprint in terms of production and disposal, the membrane shouldn’t be harmful itself. It is also used in medical products like implants.
If you are looking for more eco-friendly shoes or jackets with a waterproof and breathable membrane, you might check out the Sympatex membrane, which is PTFE-free, bluesign certified and 100% recyclable.